In 2005 he was honored with three Oscar nominations: Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck. and Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Syriana. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It was the first time in Academy history that an individual received acting and directing nominations for two different films.

Clooney most recently wrapped Ocean's Thirteen, the third film in the successful Ocean's franchise, and will next begin production on Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton. Both films are scheduled for release in 2007.

Clooney is partnered with Grant Heslov in the film and television production company Smoke House. The two previously worked together at Section Eight, in which Clooney was partnered with Steven Soderbergh. Section Eight has produced numerous films, including Good Night, and Good Luck., Syriana, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Eleven, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, The Jacket, Full Frontal and Welcome to Collinwood. Clooney was an executive producer on two critically acclaimed Section Eight films, Insomnia and Far From Heaven.

For Section Eight's television division, Clooney served as an executive producer and directed five episodes of Unscripted, a reality-based show that debuted on HBO in 2005. He also was an executive producer and cameraman for HBO's K-Street.

Clooney made his directorial debut in 2002 with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, for which he won the Special Achievement in Film Award from the National Board of Review. He followed in 2005 with Good Night, and Good Luck, in which he also co-stars, receiving recognition for his work on both sides of the camera by nearly every major film critics organization. He won the Paul Selvin Award from the Writers Guild of America, the Freedom Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the David Lean Award for Best Directing from the British Film Academy, and earned nominations for two Oscars, three Golden Globes, two BAFTAs, a SAG Award, an Independent Spirit Award, two Critics' Choice awards, a WGA and DGA Award, among others.

That same year Clooney co-produced Syriana, in which he starred as a CIA agent fighting terrorism, earning accolades worldwide, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role. He was also nominated for a SAG, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Award.

In 2000, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, for his work in the Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? He also earned critical acclaim in the award-winning drama Three Kings and the Oscar-nominated Out of Sight. His other film credits include Solaris, The Peacemaker, Batman & Robin, One Fine Day and From Dusk Till Dawn.

Clooney has starred in several television series but is best known for his five years on the hit NBC drama ER. His portrayal of Dr. Doug Ross earned him Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, People's Choice and Emmy Award nominations.

He was also an executive producer and co-star of the live television broadcast of Fail Safe, an Emmy-winning telefilm developed through his Maysville Pictures and based on the early 1960s novel of the same name. Fail Safe was nominated for a 2000 Golden Globe Award as Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.